1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multi-cell storage batteries, and, in particular, to lithium storage batteries that have a temperature control device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Multi-cell storage batteries, in particular, batteries that are used for the propulsion of vehicles, for example, and in which charging and discharging continually takes place at high powers, in many cases, have a temperature control device or, in particular, a cooling device. In German patent DE-A-43 26 943, a storage battery is described which is constructed from round cells and whose cells are arranged in a rectangular box. The ends of the cells are freely accessible and air is conducted as a heat transfer medium between the interstitial volumes remaining free between these cells. Furthermore, German patent DE-U 92 10 384 discloses arranging hollow bodies, flowed through by a fluid, between prismatic cells.
It has been shown that cooling arrangements of this type, in particular when cells with a high energy density are used, distribute the energy, which becomes free in the event of the destruction of a cell as a result of misuse or accident, to the entire storage battery, in which case it is not ensured that a thermally induced failure and hence a possible exothermic destruction of further or all the individual cells is avoided.